Radio receiving apparatus



Oct. 28, 1952 R. ADLER RADIO RECEIVING APPARATUS Filed Dec. '29, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET .1

U o 5 E 2. LL.

2 3 R 4- ;ndmo efiouoA o o u. a To ROBERT ADLER n: 5 INVENTOR.

:l 5! BY HIS AGENT Patented Oct. 28, 1952 UNIT ED STA-"ii S" t fis-EENT QF-FICE RADIO RECEIVING APPARATUS-- Robert AdlenChi'cagn; 111., assignor to Zenith RadioCorpor'ation, a corporationof Illinois Application December 29, 1948, Serial No. 61,985

Claims;

This invention relates to radio receiving apparatus and. moreparticularly to such apparatus of the superheterodyne. type;

It is an important object of the present inven-- tion toprovide asimplified superheterodyne radio receiver in which no critical adjustment is required in the intermediate-frequency channel;

It is a further object of theinvention to provide a simplified receiver in which circuit elements having practical manufacturing tolerances-may.

bility are achieved in th intermediate-frequencyv channel.

Still a further object of the invention is to.

providea superheterodyne receiver havingv an intermediate-frequencychannel which is not subject toproblems of regeneration encounteredin conventional receivers.

Yet another object of the invention-is to provide an improved superheterodyne receiver for frequency modulated carrier waves which is free of undesirable skirt responses encountered in conventional frequency modulation. receivers.

Radio broadcasting in general. in the United States is regulated under the close supervision of the Federal. Communications Commission.- In certain types of services, and particularly in frequency modulation broadcasting, the. frequency separation between adjacent carrier free quencies in any one locality islir'nited bythe Federal Communications Commission to a .predetermined minimum in order to minimizeinter ference between adjacent stations. Customary practice today is to employ radio receivers of the superheterodyne type to. receive such. broadcasts, and it'is conventionalto employ an intermediate-frequency having a value greater than" one-half the width of the total band allocated bythe Federal Communications Commission for frequency modulation broadcasting. This is done in order to provide a suflicient frequency, separation between the desired responseand the ima'ge" that the selectivity'of' the radio-frequency amplifier will render the receiver-singly responsive to each station. Similar considerations applyin the case of television broadcasting.

With the present frequency modulation band 2(1 tionbandwidtl'i is lii'nitedb'y the'Feder'alcom munications Commission ,to a maximumv of kilocycles per second. Since the modulation:

band width isra smallfraction. of the" inter= mediate-frequency,

center frequency by an. amount equa1toi33'%" of the totalumodulationiband width; Theu'se of a lower intermediatc'e-fr'e'quency' is desirable i from the standpoint of "stabilityand:obtainable" intermediatesfrequencygain;- but* lower inter mediate-frequencies have not beenused for the reason. that interference may'j r'esultbetwee'n the desired response. of one station'j and" the image-- response of. the next" adjacent station. Thepresent invention representsara'di'cal "departure from conventionalpractice' inithe' choice of a" particular intermediate frequencyj much" lower" than that 'ordinarilyeused, whi'ch afiords the advantages of improved" stability; simplicity; v and gain' in the intermediate=frequency" channel" while affording? a clear "separation" between the desired response of. one station and the image response of the next "adjacentsta'tion:

nel of the apparatus consists entirely of' aperiodic circuits and includes alow-pass'filten selective to an intermediate-frequency"band-of width substantially equal "tothatof the modulation component frequencyband; and the intermediate== frequency band is centered" with respect to a frequency substantially one quarter of the minimum carrier frequency separation. The receiveralso comprises an audiofrequencyamplifirand a frequency" detector coupled between theinterquencies above the intermediate frequency band I and has a voltage output versus frequency characteristic which is substantially linear through? out the intermediatefrequency band;

Therfeatures ofthepresent invention whichare believed to be novel are'setiforth' with particularity in the appended claims. The'inventhe intermediate-frequency" channel mustl be very. carefully adjusted; for example, a detuning ofloneehalf of'lqo shiftSthe' 3 tion, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may more readily be understood, however, by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a schematic diagram of a frequency modulation radio receiver embodying the present invention,

Figure 2 is a graphical representation of a characteristic of the frequency detector of the receiver of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a graphical representation useful in explaining the operation of the receiver of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a block diagram of a television receiver constructed in accordance with the present invention.

With reference to Figure 1, there is shown in schematic form a frequency modulation radio receiver of the superheterodyne type which embodies the present invention. Incoming frequency modulated carrier waves are applied to the primary H] of an input transformer H by means of a pair of input terminals [2 and I3 coupled to a suitable antenna system (not shown) which may comprise nothing more than short wire leads. Input terminal [3 is bypassed to ground by means of a bypass condenser l4. Signals induced in the secondary I5 of input transformer II are applied to a radio-frequency amplifier H5 which may be of conventional construction. Amplified radio-frequency signals from amplifier l6 are frequency converted by an oscillator-converter stage H. Intermediate-frequency signals from oscillator-converter I1 appear across load inductor I8 and thence are supplied to the input grid IQ of an electron discharge device 20 through a, coupling condenser 2| and a network consisting of series inductors 22 and 23 and shunt condensers 24, 25, and 26. A grid resistor 21 is supplied to furnish a direct current return to ground for input grid 19. Cathode 28 of device .20 is connected to ground through a cathode bias resistor 29 and bypass condenser 39 in the usual manner. Screen grid 3] of device 20 is connected to a suitable source of positive unidirectional operating potential, conventionally designated B+, which is bypassed to ground by means of condensers 32. Suppressor grid 33 of device 26 is connected to cathode 28. Positive operating potential is supplied to the anode 34 of device 20 from B+ through a load inductor 35.

Amplified intermediate-frequency signals appearing across load inductor 35 are supplied to a limiter 36, which may be of conventional construction, through a coupling condenser 31. Output signals of intermediate frequency and limited in amplitude appear across a load resistor 38 which is connected across the output terminals of limiter 36.

The amplitude limited signals appearing across load resistor 38 are applied to the anode 39 of a rectifier 49, here shown as a diode, through a frequency-responsive network consisting essentially of load resistor 38, series resistor 4|, and shunt condensers 42 and 43. A blocking condenser 44 is provided to isolate diode anode 39 from limiter 36 for direct currents. ductor 45 may also be supplied for a purpose to be explained hereinafter. Cathode 46 of diode 40 is connected to ground, and a load resistor 4'! is connected between anode 39 and cathode 46. The rectified voltage appearing across load resistor 41 is applied through a coupling condenser A series in- 48 to the audio-frequency channel 49, which may comprise an audio frequency amplifier, a power amplifier, and a speaker, which may all be of conventional construction.

A squelch circuit is coupled between limiter 3E and audio-frequency channel 49 and comprises a rectifier 59, here shown as a diode, and a lowpass filter comprising a series resistor 5| and a shunt condenser 52. The output from the lowpass filter is coupled to the anode 53 of diode 50 through a coupling condenser 54. Cathode 55 of diode 50 is grounded, and a load resistor 55 is connected between anode 53 and cathode 55. Audio-frequency components of the rectified voltage appearing across resistor 56 are filtered by means of a series resistor 51 and a shunt condenser 58, and the direct current output from diode 50 is applied to the audio-frequency channel 49 through a coupling resistor 59.

To facilitate an understanding of the operation of the receiver of Figure l, the present requirements of the Federal Communications Commission, namely that the minimum adjacent carrier frequency separation must be 400 kilocycles per second and the maximum modulation component band width must be kilocycles per second, will be assumed. In accordance with the present invention, the intermediate-frequency channel is made selective to an intermediate frequency band having a width (from fo-Af to ,fo+Af, where A represents the maximum frequency deviation of the input signal from the input signal center frequency f0) substantially equal to that of the modulation component frequency band and being centered with respect to a frequency f0 of substantially onequarter of the minimum carrier frequency separation. Thus, if desired modulation components are contained within a frequency band having a width of 150 kilocycles per second, the intermediate frequency channel is made selective to an intermediate frequency band having a width of 150 kilocycles per second and being centered about a frequency of 100 kilocycles per second.

To this end, the load for converter I1 com-' prises an inductor l8 followed by a two-section inductance capacitance filter which comprises inductors 22 and 23 and condensers 24, 25, and 25. With this arrangement, the selectivity of the intermediate-frequency channel is determined at the low end by the inductance of inductor l8 and the capacitance of condenser 2| and at the high end by the cut-off frequency of the inductance-capacitance filter. Under the assumed circumstances, therefore, the intermediate frequency band is designed to include frequencies from 25 to kilocycles per second.

The intermediate-frequency signal is then applied to the input grid I9 of intermediate-fre- "quency amplifier tube 29, the output circuit of which comprises inductor 35 in place of the usual intermediate-frequency transformer. Because the intermediate frequency is only 100 kilocycles per second instead of the conventional 10.7 megacycles per second, the stability and gain obtainable within amplifier tube 29 are greatly increased, and the regeneration problems are substantially eliminated.

Th output from the intermediate-frequency amplifier 28 is limited in amplitude by limiter 3G and is then applied to the input of a frequency detector comprising diode 4i! and a frequency responsive network which consists essentially of The output voltage versus frequency character ae-moaear 'istic of such a frequency detector is shown graphi callyin Figure 2, in" which voltage output is plotted as ordinate against frequency as abscissa..

Curve 60 represents the detection characteristic for a detector'comprising only diode 40, resistors 38' and M, and condensers 42 and 43. The addition of-series inductor 45 effects a sharper cutoff and results in a detection characteristic as to frequencies above the intermediate-frequency band; It'therefore'follows that the outputfrom' the" frequency detector represents an audio-frequencysign'al which has an essentially linear rela-- tionwith respect to the-frequency modulation of the. impressed intermediate-frequency signal. This; of course, ismost'desirablefor faithful signal reproduction. Because thedetector is substantially unresponsive to frequencies above the' intermediate-frequency band, undesired skirt responses are effectively eliminated.

In order further to understand the operation of the invention, there is shown in Figure 3 a graphical 'representa-tioniof the voltage output of the frequency detector plotted asa functionof' the difference between the local oscillator" free quency in and the carrier frequency is of the information to bereceive'd; Curve 62 representsthe characteristic of the frequency detector. As

the local oscillator -is tuned'tow-ard -and through of the 'modul'ati-on component frequency band, 7

and the centerfrequency of the intermediatefrequency band; there is a clearseparation betweenthe desired response of one station and the image response of the next adj ace-nt station, and no undesirable interference or confusion is encountered.

In the region between the twointermediate frequency response bands, from frequency --(fs-Af) to 'frequencyf-Af,- the beat frequencies between the local oscillator frequency and the carrier frequency traverse an audible range. This phenomenon is manifested as a whistle when the receiver is tuned between the two responses for the station. In order to eliminate undesirable"reproduction of the audible beat notes, a'squelcn-circuit' is coupled'between the. intermediate-frequency channel and the-audiofrequency amplifier-(see Figure l) The squelch circuit comprises a low-pass filter consisting of series resistor Bland shunt cndenser'52, the

time constant of whichis suitably chosen so that onlyaudio frequencies are passed; for. example, a'time constant of 100 microseconds-may be used. A diode rectifier. 50.is'coupled,to' the output of the low-passfilterby meansof a. couplingcondenser;54, and the rectified output from diode 50 appears across resistor 56. Thisrectified output contains a unidirectional squelch potential which is applied to the 1 audio-frequency amplifier to render itinoperative in response-to the appearance-.in, the intermediate-frequency,L,channel. of-

frequencies below thee; intermediateefzequencyi' band: Resistor: 51.. andccondenser -58- serve :to; filter out fromithe rectifiedyoltage developed .by diode .5. 50 any 'audioe-frequency components, so: thatonly the unidirectional squelch voltage is :ape

plied to the audio-frequency amplifiers.

Referring. 'iagain; .to ::F?igure:.3, ,.curve 63 repre-- sents v.th'ei'unidirectional. voltageloutputcfrom :the squelch icircuitr as? a .functioni vof: the; difference 2 between the'local. oscillatoriiifrequencyxis andtthei. carrierfrequency "ft. Examination :of curves :62. and 6 3 reveals that thedetector 'i'iSl subs tantially'r unresponsive:to frequencies; above1the intermedie' ate-frequency band, and" that;v a unidirectional squelch -voltagezis developed tocrenderi'theaudioe. frequency amplifier inoperative; in responseitmthe appearance in 'thecintermediatefrequency;chan nel' offrequencies: 1 below:v the intermediate-free.

quency-band! Purely byway ot-illustration; and in no. sense by way of limitation, the -following circuit-com ponentvalues may=be employed in the embodiment of Figured:- I

Electronidischargeidevlcesz 20 Type-.12AV6J Load -induct-or'l8 0.25 henry=.: Inductors-:2 2 and. 23' 40.. millihenries reach- Condenser 24 14 microemicrofarads Condenser 25 36: mi-cro-microfarads Condenser 26 J 12. microemicrofarads. Resistor 2 T .........r 82,000.- ohms Inductor: 35- 0.38 henry; Resistor I 381 47,000ohms1 Condenser 42 50 imicro-microfarads. Resistor 47,000 ohms. Condenser i153 25 micro-microfarads Resistor '41 150,000 ohms.- Resistor' 5|. 100,000. ohms Condenser. 52. -..0.001 .microfarad. Resistor 58 .1.5-megoh'ms;. Resistor: 51 470,000ohms: Condenser 58 ....0.05 microfaradi Resistor'r59. ..470,0.00 ohms Withgthesetcomponent values, the .intermedi-.

ate-frequency channel .is. selective to, an inter--- mediate frequencyband which includes frequenciesfrom 25 to-1'75 kilocyclesper second. and, whichzis centered about an intermediate. frequencyqof '100kilocycles per second. Such areceiver;isiparticularlytuseful for the reception of frequencymodulated-signals. in the portion ofthe frequencyspectrum from 88to 108 megacycles, per: second, which. constitutes the. present fre-v quencymodulation broadcast band and inwhich the minimumicarrier frequency separation specifiedtby the Federal Communications Commission in any-one locality-is 400kilocycles per second. Withreferenceto Figure'4, there isshown in block diagram form a television receiver which, Composite embodies the. present invention. video: signals are intercepted b anv antennas!!! and are applied to a conventional radio-frequency,

amplifier I l. The amplified output of radio-free quency amplifier]! is mixedwith the output of 0nd local oscillator 15 in a second converter stage 16, and the output of second converterv I6 is trans-9 mitted to an amplitude modulation detector 11' through a second intermediate-frequency, stage.

18 The output from detector 11 is amplified in video amplifier 19 and applied to the control grid 80 of a conventional cathode ray tube 8]. Synchronizing signals are fed from the output of detector 11 to a synchronizing signal separator 82 and thence to the respective sweep generators 83 and 85. The output of horizontal sweep generator 83 is applied to the horizontal deflection coil 85 associated with picture tube 8|, and the output of the vertical sweep generator 84 is applied to the vertical deflection coil 86. An intercarrier sound system 81 and a speaker 88 are also coupled to the output of detector 11.

In the case of television broadcasting, as with frequency modulation broadcasting, the Federal Communications Commission limits the minimum carrier frequency separation to a predetermined value, and themodulation component frequency band width is also limited by the Federal Communications Commission to a value less than one-half of the minimum carrier frequency separation. In accordance with the present invention, the receiver is provided with an intermediate-frequency channel 1 3 which is selective to an intermediate-frequency band having a width substantially equal to that of the modulation component frequency band and being centered with respect to a frequency of substantially onequarter of the predetermined minimum carrier frequency separation. Intermediate frequency channel 74 may include a filter for obtaining the required selectivity and an amplifier for obtaining intermediate-frequency gain. In order that a conventional amplitude modulation detector Tl may be used to demodulate the intermediatefrequency signal, the output of intermediate-frequency channel 14 is converted to a conventional intermediate frequency by the second converter 16. The second intermediate-frequency stage may consist only of a filter. for obtaining the desired selectivity characteristics.

In other respects, the operation of the receiver of Figure 4 is conventional.

Although the invention has been shown and described particularly in connection with the present regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, it is apparent that these regulations may be changed or that new regulations governing newly allocated portions of the frequency spectrum may be imposed. Therefore, it

. is-contemplated that the present invention may be employed in connection with any broadcasting service wherein the maximum modulationcomponent frequency band width is set, eithervby law or by custom, at a value less than one-half of the minimum carrier frequency separation.

In the appended claims, the specification that the intermediate-frequency band is centered with respect to a frequency of substantially one-quarter of the minimum carrier frequency separation is to be construed as meaning that the intermediate-frequency band center frequency does not differ from one-quarter of the minimum carrier frequency separation by more than one-half of the difference between the modulation component band width and one-half of the minimum carrier frequency separation.

While the invention has been shown and described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that numerous modifications and variations may be made, and it is contemplated in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.- I

I claim:

1. Apparatus for receiving signal information from any one of a plurality of frequency modulated carrier waves having a minimum carrier frequency separation of a predetermined value and individually including desired modulation components within a frequency band having a width less than one-half of said predetermined value, said apparatus comprising: an intermediate-frequency channel consisting entirely of aperiodic circuits and including a low-pass filter selective to an intermediate-frequency band having a width substantially equal to that of said modulation component frequency band and centered with respect to a frequency of substantially one-quarter of said predetermined value; an audio-frequency amplifier; and a frequency detector coupled between said intermediate-frequency channel and said audio-frequency ampliher and including a frequency-responsive discriminatornetwork which is substantially unresponsive to frequencies above said intermediateirequency band and which has a voltage output versus frequency characteristic which is substantially linear throughout said intermediatei'requency band.

2. Apparatus for receiving signal information from any one of a plurality of frequency modulated carrier waves havin a minimum carrier frequency separation of a predetermined value and individually including desired modulation components within a frequency band having a width less than one-half of said predetermined value, said apparatus comprising: an intermediate-frequency channel consisting entirely of aperiodic circuits and including a low-pass filter selective to an intermediate-frequency band having a width substantially equal to that of said modulation component frequency band and centered with respect to a frequency of substantially one-quarter of said predetermined value; an audio-frequency amplifier; and a frequency detector coupled between said intermediate-frequency channel and said audio-frequency amplifier and including a resistance-capacitance discriminator network which is substantially unresponsive to frequencies above said intermediate-frequency band and which has a voltage out-- put versus frequency characteristic which has a substantially linear negative slope throughout said intermediate-frequency band.

3. Apparatus for receiving signal information from any one of a plurality of frequency modulated carrier waves having a minimum carrier frequency separation of 400 kilocycles per second and individually includin desired modulation components within a frequency band having a width less than 200 kilocycles per second, said apparatus comprising: an intermediate-frequency channe1 consisting entirely of aperiodic circuits and including a low-pass filter selective to an intermediate-frequency band having a width substantially equal to that of said modulation component frequency band and centered with respect to a frequency of substantially kilocycles per second; an audio-frequency amplifier; and a frequency detector coupled between said intermediate-frequency channel and said audiof-requency amplifier and including a rectifier and a frequency responsive network consisting essentially of resistance and capacitance elements, said network being substantially unresponsive to frequencies above said intermediate-frequency band and having a voltage output versus fre-- quency characteristic which has a negative slope and which is substantially linear throughout said intermediate-frequency band.

4. Apparatus for receiving signal information from any one of a plurality of frequency modulated carrier waves having a minimum carrier frequency separation of a predetermined value and individually including desired modulation components within a frequency band having a width less than one-half of said predetermined value, said apparatus comprising: an intermediate-frequency channel consisting entirely of aperiqdic circuits and including a low-pass filter selective to an intermediate-frequency band having a width substantially equal to that of said modulafion component frequency band and centered with respect to a frequency of substantially onequarter of said predetermined value; an audiofrequency amplifier; a frequency detector coupled between said intermediate-frequency channel and said audio-frequency amplifier and including a frequency responsive discriminator network which is substantially unresponsive to frequencies above said intermediate-frequency band and which has a substantially linear voltage output versus frequency characteristic throughout said intermediate-frequency band; and a squelch circuit coupled between said intermediate-frequency channel and said audio-frequency amplifier and including a rectifier and a low pass filter for developing a unidirectional squelch voltage to render said audio-frequency amplifier inoperative in response to the appearance in said intermediate-frequency channel of frequencies below said intermediate-frequency band.

5. Apparatus for receiving signal information from any one of a plurality of frequency modulated carrier waves having a minimum carrier frequency separation of 400 kilocycles per second and individually including desired modulation components within a frequency band having a width less than 200 kilocycles per second, said apparatus comprising: an intermediate-frequency channel consisting entirely of aperiodic circuits and including a, low-pass filter selective to an intermediate-frequency band having a width substantially equal to that of said modulation component frequency band and being centered with respect to a frequency of substantially kilocycles per second; an audio-frequency amplifier; a, frequency detector coupled between said intermediate-frequency channel and said audio-- frequency amplifier and including a resistancecapacitance discriminator network which is substantially unresponsive to frequencies above said intermediate-frequency band and which has a voltage output versus frequency characteristic which has a substantially linear negative slope throughout said intermediate-frequency band; and a squelch circuit coupled between said intermediate-frequency channel and said audio-frequency amplifier and including a rectifier and a low pass filter for developing a unidirectional squelch voltage to render said audio-frequency amplifier inoperative in response to the appearance in said intermediate-frequency channel of frequencies below said intermediate-frequency band.

ROBERT ADLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,361,487 Osborne Dec. 7, 1920 1,878,614 Wheel-er Sept. 20, 1932 2,035,176 McLennan Mar. 24, 1941 2,261,643 Brown Nov. 4, 1941 2,350,869 Bliss June 6, 1944 2,343,115 Noble Feb. 29, 1944 2,390,209 DOrio Dec. 4, 1945 OTHER REFERENCES Principles of Radio Engineerin by Glasgow. 1st ed., June 8, 1936, pages 380 to 386. 

